This is Mahatma Gandhi's seventh speech at the Round
Table Conference, the fifth before the Federal Structure
Committee, delivered on November 19, 1931.

This speech by and large is the best guide to our study
of Gandhi's sense of equity. He rejects the resolution on
commercial safeguards passed by the First Round Table
as being inimical to the vital interests of the masses of India. The two formulae laid down by Mahatma Gandhi
are the quintessence of justice, equity and fair play: (1)
there shall be no racial discrimination against foreigners;
(2) no legitimate interest, not in conflict with the best
interests of the Indian nation, shall be interfered with
except in accordance with the law applicable to such
interests.

These formulae guarantee the safety of European as
well as Indian business interests; but they are so worded
as to safeguard first and foremost the interests of the
dumb, semi-starved millions of the land. As between the
haves and the have-nots, the Mahatma sees no difficulty
whatsoever in discriminating in favor of the have-nots,
in favor of the famishing millions. Swaraj, says Gandhi,
is to be won in order to alleviate the sufferings of the
masses.

Commercial safeguards; control over the army, finance and foreign policy; special rights for Englishmen
involved in lawsuits--these are new names for the vicious
code of extraterritoriality, which is today the bane of
the Chinese scene. So long as there is a single Congressman

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